Quadruple talk is not four Mourinho

Jose Mourinho refused to talk up Chelsea’s quadruple chances after they eased into the Capital One Cup semi-final.

The Blues cruised into the last four with a routine 3-1 win at Derby after goals from Eden Hazard, Filipe Luis and Andre Schurrle.

Craig Bryson had briefly made it 2-1 before Jake Buxton was sent off for the hosts with 12 minutes left.

It keeps the Barclays Premier League leaders on course for a clean sweep this season but Mourinho remained coy.

He said: “We don’t speak about it, you (the media) spoke a few weeks ago about being unbeatable in the Premier League and we never did it, now you speak about the quadruple but we haven’t done it. We have our feet on the ground.

“We can win on Monday (at Stoke) but it will be difficult. The important thing is to win on Monday. I was saying before we don’t choose competitions, we don’t choose matches and the next match is the most important thing.

“We go like this and I think the players showed that attitude, by playing a very professional game. The mentality is part of the group DNA. I don’t need to push people to play a certain game, I don’t need to press them to be ready.”

Kurt Zouma had to be carried off after a clash of heads with Petr Cech just before half-time and Mourinho was initially frustrated with the speed of the stretcher bearers getting onto the pitch.

He tried to hurry them up and Cesc Fabregas and Cesar Azpilicueta helped carry the stretcher but Mourinho admitted he did not know the rules.

“Zouma is fine, he was just a bit dizzy and had some blood in his mouth. He has some exams with the doctors but he’s fine,” said Mourinho, who confirmed Didier Drogba avoided any major problems after coming off with an ankle injury.

“It was easy to understand there was some trouble but I had no idea what was going on as I couldn’t see from the distance.

“They (the stretcher bearers) were walking and afterwards I was informed that’s the direction they have, they can’t run.”

Derby had rallied after Bryson swept in with 19 minutes left but Buxton was dismissed for pulling back Loic Remy seven minutes later.

Keeper Lee Grant looked to have handled outside the box as he slid in at Remy’s feet in the same incident and Rams boss Steve McClaren felt the decision to dismiss Buxton was wrong.

“Absolutely, I have seen it quite a few times and I don’t think it would have been given in the middle of the park or anywhere else,” he said.

“I have discussed it with him (the linesman) and he gave what he saw and I believe it was wrong. There was a little tussle and we couldn’t believe it when Buxton was sent off.

“We thought Lee Grant was going and we were getting (Kelle) Roos ready. It was a big surprise, a big decision – a poor decision – it might not have changed the result but it robbed us of the last 15 minutes after the goal.”

But McClaren felt his side, third in the Sky Bet Championship, proved themselves against Chelsea.

“I was so proud of the players,” he said. “We grew in terms of the performance and how I wanted to play. We were nervous at the beginning but overall we’re so proud.

“We restricted Chelsea to very few chances but they were very clinical and that’s why they are one of the best teams in Europe.”